Differences and Similarities

"Conflict is an unavoidable component of human activity". ------ 

Brahnam et al., (2005:p204)

Current day project managers spend minimum of 20% of their time in dealing with conflicts. Ma et al., have done a meta study of five hundred fity-six journal articles on conflict management which were published between 1997 and 2006 and expressed that conflict management research is concentrating mainly few areas such as role of cultural differences in conflicts, conflict management styles, conflicts at workplace, conflicts and team performance and conflict management practices. According to them, the intellectual structure of conflict management is taking back stage in conflict management research and it was not highlighted much in previous conflict management literature. Hence, this paper is a contribution in that direction describing a conceptual model of conflict management, conflict lifecycle, conflict management process, different reasons for conflicts in projects, frequently used conflict resolution techniques in projects and implementing the solution in projects. The different reasons for conflicts in projects are identified using the collected literature based on each reason and its frequency of occurrence in gathered literature. Similar technique is used to find the frequently used conflict resolution techniques in projects. They are arranged in the decreasing order of occurrence in the literature. 

One school of thought is conflicts are not good for projects and another school of thought is conflicts are needed for better relationships and better performance in the projects. According to Lam et al. conflict is a disagreement between different parties over opinions, views and ideas. Moderate levels of conflict leads to better performance and high levels of conflict reduce the team performance. Conflict may be the result of loyalty to something or attachment to something. Conflict may be a situation of parties in discrepancies, irreconcilable desires and incompatible wishes, activities, needs or goals. According to Barki et Hartwick, conflict is a phenomenon of experiencing negative emotional reactions in conflicting parties in interfering in pursuing their goals and perceived disagreements. The symptoms of conflict include jealousy, hostility, enforcing norms, regulations and rules, frustration and poor communication. According to Sutterfield et al., the three dimensions of an interpersonal conflict include interference, interdependence and disagreement. Current day effective managers do not avoid conflicts but they take it as an opportunity for growth for both individuals and organization.

Sometimes relationship conflicts lead to mistrust, dissatisfaction, cynicism, apathy, non-cordial relationships, provoked hostility, anxiety and reduced project performance. The high level of conflicts also increases the costs and schedules of the project. Properly managed conflicts result into better quality product, better decision making, more innovation and enhanced performance. Constructive conflict management comes along with mutual respect, cooperation and intention to learn from each other. Cross Cultural teams are prone to more conflicts. The seed of conflict is planted when one of the parties feels disharmony in projects. Traditionally, the word 'conflict' has negative connotations. 

Current view of conflict is, conflict is inevitable in projects and organizations . According to Appelbaum et al., Conflict involves struggle over claims such as resources, opinions, beliefs, status, desires, priorities, preferences and power. Existence of conflict depends on the individual perception. When one party tries to impact the interests, objectives or goals of another party, the conflict exists. In another research study it was found that there is a direct relationship between education, perception and conflict.

Initial five techniques for conflict resolution were given by Lippitt, G.L in 1982 published in Training and Development Journal. Verma mentioned the sixth technique for conflict resolution known as 'collaborating'. Other researchers have used different terminology for conflict resolution techniques. Conflicts can be constructive or destructive. It will be decided by the type of conflict. Usually conflicts in projects can be categorized as cognitive conflicts and affective conflicts. Cognitive conflicts deal with the differences in decisions and they are task-oriented. They are also known as substantive conflicts. Where as, affective conflicts deal with differences in individuals and personalities and not on the issue. Robbins has categorized conflicts as functional conflicts and dysfunctional conflicts. Functional conflicts are the constructive form of conflicts and dysfunctional conflicts are the destructive to the team, organization or project. 

Armstrong et Prasad have categorized conflicts as vertical conflicts, which occur between superior and sub-ordinate, and horizontal conflicts, which occur between team members at the same level of hierarchy. If you observe keenly the classic works of Edgar H. Schein on Organizational Psychology, the terms "conflict management" and "conflict resolution" are not at all used in them. He discussed intergroup conflicts more than the intragroup conflicts. However, in the 1978 work of Stephen P. Robbins published in California Management Review, he used the terms "conflict management" and "conflict resolution" and said that both are not same. He distinguished between them. 

There has been a phenomenal increase in the interest on conflict resolution in current days because of the increase in tensions among interpersonal, intergroup, inter-organization, and inter cultural. Conflict management is a new entrant in the discipline of project management. Conflict is most avoided part of project management. Conflict is an integral part of any project. It is difficult to identify the conflicts in projects. In projects conflicts can occur between design and requirements, design and implementation and also among designers themselves. Construction projects became very complex and different stakeholders have different conflicting interests and objectives. Usually in the storming stage of team development, there are more chances for frequent conflicts.